Gang Laws Put Up A Fight

HAMPTON — When Arenzo J. King, 20 - a "War General" with West Side Piru, a "set" within the Bloods street gang - received 2 1/2 years in prison after a plea deal this month, prosecutors marked another small victory in their crackdown on gangs.

King was sentenced to 10 years - with two to serve and the rest suspended - on a wounding charge. He was given five years - with six months to serve and the rest suspended - on a gang membership charge.

King was one of five males charged in a random March attack that severely injured a 58-year-old cyclist in Hampton. Police say it was a Bloods gang initiation. L. Nelson - 16 at the time of the attack and now 17 - also pleaded guilty and received nine months in prison. Three others await a court hearing.

Senior Assistant Hampton Commonwealth's Attorney David Holt said a "War General" was a higher-ranking gang member. To the outsider, the language and symbols of gangs are confusing. But prosecutors and police in Hampton have made it their business to translate gang activity into years in jail, using the state's notoriously difficult anti-gang statutes.

The statutes were created in 2004, when they were taken out of a mob and racketeering provision.

Holt said about 40 people had been charged with gang offenses in Hampton since 2006, though not all charges stuck.

There were 11 convictions for criminal street gang participation in 2006, five in 2007 and three in 2008.

A number of cases are pending because 22 people were charged in 2008.

Holt, a former police officer, said Hampton officers routinely checked out suspects for gang membership.

"Since '07 and '08, we have coordinated their investigations and our prosecutions and have been successful in these cases."

But Holt said using the anti-gang legislation remained a real challenge.

"I have been doing this for five years and have prosecuted everything from DUI to murder. I've never had more of a challenging caseload than when it comes to gang prosecutions. But our office and the police department have devoted substantial resources and expertise to ensure that we are removing from our communities those involved in criminal street gangs."

Holt said using the state's anti-gang legislation increased sentences on those whose crimes were linked to membership in a street gang. It also sends a message, he said.

The anti-gang statutes list a number of "predicate" offenses that a gang membership charge can attach itself to, including robbery, malicious wounding, murder, assault and battery, and reckless handling of a firearm.

But some offenses aren't included. Holt thinks that grant larceny, for example, should be a "predicate" offense:

"The General Assembly did not write grand larceny into the statute. You can steal a car as a member of a gang, and do it for the benefit of the gang at the direction of your gang leader, and not be prosecuted as a member of a criminal street gang."

Hampton's gangs aren't as organized as those in bigger cities, Holt said. One of the difficulties that prosecutors face is proving that an offense was committed "in association with, for the benefit of or at the direction" of a criminal street gang, he said.

But as part of its efforts, the Hampton Police Division recently expanded its gang unit to five people.

In Newport News, the anti-gang legislation has been used sparingly.

However, at least six gang charges have been brought in the past six months, police spokesman Lou Thurston said.

In a recent interview, Newport News Police Chief James Fox said police had been told by prosecutors that it wasn't easy to use the anti-gang statutes, but they had worked with the FBI to arrest known gang members.

"There are a lot of hurdles to jump through. We probably have the most aggressive gang unit in the area, and we have taken very few cases using the gang statutes. I'm told is it's quite complicated," Fox said.

"They have to prosecute. We give them the facts, but I understand it's still not simple."

Fox said the Police Department increased its anti-gang efforts after he arrived in 2004 and convinced groups such as the School Board of the extent of the problem.

"We acknowledged them (gangs)," he said. "I took a lot of heat for that. The School Board would not even listen to us because they didn't want to hear the word 'gangs' related to schools. That's changed now.

"We have got to continue what we are doing on the gang standpoint and maybe step it up because the gangs aren't playing games anymore. They are shooting each other."

Fox thinks that a recent surge in breaking-and-entering offenses in northern Newport News is linked to gangs.

Sgt. Dennis Ivey of the York/Poquoson Sheriff's Office is a member of the Colonial Area Gang Network, a group that meets once a month to discuss gang problems and also covers Williamsburg and James City County.

"We've had some homegrown gangs in York County, but we have been able to work with schools to get to them at an early stage," he said.

"I haven't used the gang legislation yet. It's not easy, but it's doable."